Dr Chris Gallavin appointed new Dean of Law at UC

The Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Canterbury (UC) Dr Rod Carr today announced the
appointment of Dr Chris Gallavin as the new Dean of Law and
Head of School for a five year period.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the UC’s College of Business
and Economics and the School of Law Dr Sonia Mazey said Dr
Gallavin had been acting dean and head for the past two
months and had steered the school through a number of
difficult earthquake related decisions.

Dr Gallavin
joined UC as a lecturer in law at the beginning of 2005. He
obtained an LLB degree, first class honours, from UC and a
PhD in international criminal law from Hull University in
England.

He lectured in the area of criminal law
and international criminal law at Hull University for two
years before returning to Christchurch. He is widely
published in the area of criminal justice and the law of
evidence and is a regular commentator on criminal justice
issues.

Dr Gallavin has held a number of visiting
fellowships including the Plumer Fellow at the University of
Oxford in England and was the Fulbright Professor of New
Zealand Studies at Georgetown University, Washington DC,
last year.

``The University of Canterbury and
Christchurch are the places to be in New Zealand for the
foreseeable future,’’ he said today.

``I
understand that post-quake Christchurch is not for everyone,
but it is for me - and it’s for people who want to make a
difference – who want to play a tangible role in the
development of our society.

``The University of
Canterbury is at the absolute heart of that ethos. I think
it is impossible for the University not to grow from
strength to strength providing our students with
unparalleled learning experiences, our academics with unique
research opportunities and our community with the help and
assistance it is absolutely screaming for at the
moment.``There is no reason for our law school not to be
at the centre of all things law in the Canterbury region. We
have practitioners who have lost their offices in the CBD,
judges who are sitting in marae, community halls and in
schools around the region and we have the biggest Community
Law Centre in the country servicing the needs of thousands
within the region on a yearly basis.

``What is there
not to be excited about? I believe we have the best
academics in the country. We write the texts books. Our
academics are committed to our students and are passionate
about their research. All that is left is the development of
a community engagement curricular that will capitalise on
all our opportunities and the needs of our community. I hope
to be able to announce a number of initiatives before
Christmas. Again, why would you want to go anywhere
else?’’

Dr Gallavin replaces Associate Professor
Richard Scragg who has been Dean and Head for the past five
years.

Professor Scragg decided to step down after
his very successful five year tenure. He provided incredible
leadership during his time as Dean and Head, Dr Gallavin
said.

``His leadership was instrumental in the
ability of the School of Law to come back online quickly
after the quakes of 2010 and 2011 providing students with
the opportunity to continue their studies with as little
interruption as possible.’’

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